Many clinical trials rely on patient-reported outcomes to determine whether drugs are working, but with disparate methods employed across the industry, it can be difficult to compare the results from one study with those of another. With that in mind, the FDA has recruited CRO giant Icon to help develop an industry standard for patient polling in antibacterial R&D.

CRO magnate Icon and and eClinical outfit Medidata are pooling their resources to offer a combined platform for patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials, touting their technology as faster and more effective in surveying participants.

Pfizer and Roche are the latest pharma heavyweights to join Icon's consortium of drugmakers working to flesh out new technology for adaptive clinical trials, allowing study sponsors to react to results in real time and maximize efficacy.